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Your Rochester grocery store is being graded. What it means, and the grades

New York on Jan. 1 implemented a new grading system for inspections for about 28,000 grocery stores in the state.

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Nick's Super Store, 460 Monroe Ave., did not have its A grade posted. Several stores in the Rochester area either did not have their inspection grade posted or not in a prominent place.(Photo: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/@tyee23/staff photographer)Buy Photo

The state Agriculture Department notice of inspection is posted near the bakery at Pittsford Dairy.(Photo: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/@tyee23/staff photographer)

By year's end, about 28,000 supermarkets and convenience stores will get a grade that needs to be posted in a visible location for customers, the department said.

“Consumers want to know now more than ever about their food, including how it was handled from farm to table," said state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball.

"That means our retail food establishments need to be doing their part, making sure they are implementing good food safety practices and posting the results of their inspection in a location visible to all consumers."

Some local consumers applauded the move.

Tabitha Collins noticed the report card hanging on the wall at the 7-Eleven store on Monroe Avenue near Interstate 490 in the city. It's behind a counter where hot food is offered, including chicken wings, burritos and hot dogs. That location received an "A" grade.

"It's reassuring," she said. "If restaurants have to be inspected, so should other places that serve food."

What do the grades mean?

The state on Jan. 1, 2018, started a new "A, B and C" grade on grocery stores in New York. You can check the grades by store at NYDATABASES.COM(Photo: Joseph Spector, Albany Bureau)

Following a retail food store inspection, the state will give the place either an “A,” “B,” or “C” letter grade.

Here's what each letter means, according to the agency:

A — No critical deficiencies were found. (Food safety program in place is working.)

B — Although critical deficiencies were found, they were corrected at the time of inspection. (Room for continuous improvement.)

C — Critical deficiencies were found but were not or could not be corrected. (Need for immediate corrective action.)

The state has a long list of potential critical deficiencies, ranging from food not being protected by workers to food not being properly heated.

The stores that get a letter rating of "C" will be reinspected within about 60 days to make sure corrective actions were taken, the agency said.

That's what happened at Foodlink in Rochester. An inspection on January 3 found the food bank and warehouse were in full compliance but raised a concern about storage bins in the new processing room, where apples are sliced and bagged.

"The apples were in agricultural bins and not food service bins, which was not an approved container," said Terra Keller, Foodlink's chief operating officer. Vendors delivered the apples in those bins.

"Since that inspection, we immediately corrected our process. Ag & Markets returned on Monday, Feb. 12, for a full inspection and we received an A," Keller explained.

"Anything that improves transparency and helps to inform consumers about food safety we support," said Thomas Gremillion, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, a Washington, D.C., group that represents nonprofit consumer organizations.

Gremillion said the grades would make retailers and consumers more cognizant of the importance of meeting state inspection standards.

"Anything where you are putting pressure on retailers to improve their food safety is going to have a good outcome," he added.

The actual inspection procedure and compliance regulations have not changed in New York — just the new grades.

What does the data show?

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The state Agriculture Department started Jan. 1 with a new letter rating system A, B or C for its food safety inspections of retail food stores. It gives shoppers a better sense of cleanliness of the store they are shopping in. Those who receive a C for critical deficiencies will be inspected again within or about 60 days to correct the problem. Nick’s Super Store on Monroe Avenue received an A.(Photo: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/@tyee23/staff photographer)

The data for January showed 78 percent of the stores inspected in January received an "A," while 17 percent received a "C" and 5 percent received a "B."

In Binghamton, seven stores were inspected: Six received an "A," and one got a "B."

Retailers face a $600 fine for not posting their grade in the store, and consumers can request a copy of the inspection from the store.

The state says the inspection grade must be "posted in an obvious location near each public entrance to the retail store."

But consumers might not see them if they don't know to look for them.

At the Wegmans store on Fairport Road in East Rochester, the framed certificate hangs around the corner from the main entrance, between the flower shop and the bakery.

Sara Butso of Penfield said she didn't see it when she was shopping there, and she'd like to see the signs posted more prominently.

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Musette Rinaudo, an employee at Pittsford Dairy, folds small boxes during a lull in business. Behind her on the wall is Pittsford DairyÕs inspection grade posted. They received an A.(Photo: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/@tyee23/staff photographer)

In New York City, a similar inspection program requires establishments to hang their grades where they can easily be seen by people before they enter, with the letter grade itself 8 or 10 inches high.

"It should be displayed more prominently," Butso said. "If you get an A you should want to brag about it, let everyone know."

Butso said that making the inspection results more visible is good for consumers.

"You assume that things are on the up and up, but I like having some certainty, some proof that somebody else is checking up on what they're doing," she said.

The Food Industry Alliance, which represents grocers in New York, endorsed the new system, which is run by the state agency's Division of Food Safety and Inspection.

“Our members take food safety very seriously and believe the new system will provide more transparency to the public," the alliance's president, Michael Rosen, said in a statement.

SLahman@Gannett.com

JSpector@Gannett.com

Sean Lahman is a staff writer and database specialist at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.